CDS dept seeks govt nod on final structure

NEW DELHI: The structure of the newly-constituted department of military affairs (DMA), headed by chief of defence staff General Bipin Rawat, is taking shape and will be staffed by one secretaryranked officer, one additional secretary and five joint secretaries, a senior army officer said on Friday.

The department has sought the government’s approval for the appointment of one secretary who will be responsible for transformation and coordination, one three-star ranked additional secretary and three joint secretaries to execute its wide-ranging mandate, said Major General Mukesh Aggarwal, defence advisor to General Rawat.

The DMA will have a total of five joint secretaries, with two having already been posted to the department. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet had last month cleared the appointment of two officers in the DMA — Rajeev Singh Thakur, a 1995 batch IAS officer from Rajasthan cadre, and Shantanu, a 1997 batch officer from Tripura cadre.

At the time of its creation, the government announced that the DMA would be staffed by a mix of civilian and military officers. Aggarwal said an interim set up was created in the DMA to take forward its mandate with a secretary (transformation and coordination), three additional secretaries and five joint secretaries. The head of Integrated Defence Staff (an officer of commanderin-chief rank) is currently “dual hatting” as secretary (transformation and coordination).

“A lot of discussions have taken place (on the new appointments). While in-principle agreement is there, approvals will take some time,” Aggarwal said.

HT reported on Thursday that the defence ministry has sent the names of three two-star ranked officers from the army, air force and navy to the government for appointment as joint secretaries in department of military affairs.

These officers will be appointed as joint secretaries handling army, air force and navy.

The two IAS officers already posted to the DMA have been assigned their duties — Thakur has been appointed joint secretary (legal, vigilance and establishment) while Shantanu has been given charge of joint secretary (works and coordination).

The department’s officials will be able to exercise financial powers after the government clears the other appointments.

Rawat’s secretariat consists of a defence advisor, three deputy defence advisers and two aidesde-camp.